Xbox:Online Play

While Xbox Live was shutdown for the original Xbox in April 2010, you can still play over the Internet using a free Xbox Live recreation — Insignia. Alternatively, there is XLink Kai or XBSlink on any game that supports System Link, and XLAN on most.

Xbox Live Recreation (Insignia)

Insignia is a reverse engineered recreation of Xbox Live for the original Xbox. Below is a full registration and setup tutorial by MrMario2011.

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Required Items

• A modified original Xbox (the service does not work on Xbox 360 or later consoles). A stock Xbox can be used if you exploit the console without installing a softmod.
  • If you have a softmodded console and are not on Rocky5's softmod 1.1.8 or newer, you will need to upgrade it using Rocky5's extras disc, Rocky5's Quick Upgrade or Quick Update.
  • If you are running a hardmodded console, you need to have a BIOS that doesn't block Xbox Live. Several other BIOSes are supported. Some of these BIOSes include, but are not limited to Cerbios 2.1.0 and later, EvolutionX M8+ (EvoX M8+), iND-BiOS 5003 (XBL Enabled patch).
  • If your HDD Key is nulled (all 0s), it needs to be changed, either back to the original HDD Key if you still have it backed up, or to all 1s. Only change it before registering your console to Insignia otherwise you may not be able to connect. Do note that there are some game saves that are signed with your console's HDD Key, so you may need to resign them.

Installation

1. On your dashboard, set your Network settings to a Static IP address and add your network's subnet mask and gateway.
   • Subnet mask and gateway can be obtained on a Windows PC by pressing Start, searching for "command prompt", and running the command ipconfig.
2. Set the first DNS server to 46.101.64.175 and second DNS server to any valid DNS server such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8.
3. Set the first DNS server in your homebrew dashboards and network enabled applications to 46.101.64.175 and second DNS server to any valid DNS server such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8.
4. Download the default.xbe file from the Insignia Setup Assistant GitHub.
5. Use Xbox:FTP to transfer the default.xbe file to your Xbox and copy it to E:\Apps\Insignia Setup\
6. Restart your Xbox (or refresh the dashboard) and the application should show up in your dashboard. Launch it.
7. Select "Register Xbox" and it should pop up a message that it was successful.
   • If your console is stock, it's recommended to also backup your HDD Key. Select "View HDD Key" and take note of it.
8. Select "Quit Setup Assistant".
9. Launch the Microsoft Dashboard and navigate to Settings > Network Settings, and choose Connect. All four connection status lights should light up green, indicating a proper connection to Insignia.
   • If you run into issues, launch the Insignia Setup Assistant again and click the "Troubleshoot" button.

Registration

1. Visit the Insignia website and sign up using your email address. You will receive an email containing a single-use code.
2. On the Microsoft Dashboard, select the Xbox Live tab > New Account, and follow the prompts to create an account. If your country is not listed, choose the geographically closest country.
3. When prompted for a "Subscription Code", enter the single-use code that was sent in your email.
4. When prompted for a credit card number, use the fake information below:
   • Payment Method: Visa
   • Cardholder Name: (any name)
   • Credit Card Number: 4111 1111 1111 1111
   • Expiration Date: (any future date)
   • Phone Number: 123-456-7890
   • Email Address: Use the valid email address you used to sign up for your account.
5. Choose "No" to the options asking about sharing information.
6. Choose "Yes" to activate your account, and choose "Done".
7. Choose your account you just created > Account Management > Account Settings. You will be prompted for the last four digits of a credit card number, which you will retrieve from the Insignia website in the next step.
8. Log into the Insignia website, click your name in the top-right corner and choose "Dashboard". Click the "Recovery Info" tab > Reveal. Enter the last four numbers into your console and it will open the Account Settings menu.
9. Change the Voice, Premium Purchases, and Created Content settings to "Enabled". You can now access all features of Insignia.

Troubleshooting

• "Your serial number is already taken" message when registering in Setup Assistant
  • This message appears when your Xbox has already been registered for Insignia. If you can't connect to Insignia and know that the console has not been registered, create a support ticket or join the Discord server and go to the support forum.

• "Failed to configure TLS" error in Setup Assistant
  • Your Insignia Setup Assistant is likely outdated. Download the latest one from the GitHub.

• "Missing String" in Microsoft Dashboard billing region
  • Your dashboard is outdated. The latest 5960 dashboard needs to be installed. If your console is stock, you can update to 5960 using any of the games from this list.

System Link Tunneling

Several options are available; XLink Kai is account based, uses a central server, is the most popular, allows adding friends, has chat messaging, and uses a mix of peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic and centralized servers to ensure stable connectivity and as low of latency as possible. XBSlink on the other hand is only peer-to-peer, and therefore does not rely on a server being up, and is open source. XLAN only supports client - server netcode games, but allows ping restrictions on rooms, is very stable, and has the unique feature of being able to simulate the same latency to the host for all clients.

• You can find a list of games that support System Link here.

• You can find a list of ping-limited and region-locked games, as well as games where different loading speeds can cause connection issues here.

Services

Service specific pages:

XLink Kai

XBSLink

XLAN